“Okay, so we just need to dig up some dirt on her. We’ll fight fire with fire. Find some nasty little secret that she wouldn’t want to see the light of day.”
Avery thought about it. The plan made sense. For the first time in a long time, she felt optimistic, thanks to her mother. She never would have guessed Anna Collins, who had been little more than a stranger who shared the same DNA, would become her ally. “That could actually work. Her parents have been supporting her all of her life. If she was doing something they didn’t approve of, they may see fit to cut her off. I’m sure that alone would be enough to scare her.”
Anna laughed. “Excellent, then that’s what we’ll do. I’ll hire the best team of private detectives money can buy and by this time next week, little Mrs. Abby McCall will realize she messed with the wrong family this time.”
Avery smiled, overwhelmed by her mother’s uncharacteristic support. “Thanks, Mom. I’m glad I told you.”
“So am I, sweetheart. I know we haven’t always been close. I blame myself for that, but I would like to change things. Maybe this could be a start? I’d love it if you’d let me be a real grandmother to that precious baby you’re carrying.”
Her mother was willing to put herself out there and risk rejection. The least she could do was meet her halfway. “I’d like that.”
Chapter Sixteen
Ty scowled into his cup of black coffee. His third one this morning and he still felt like he’d been run over by a bus. When he left Avery’s house in the middle of the night, he cruised around, trying to make sense of everything. The bottom line was she didn’t want him because he wasn’t good enough for her. There was no way to put a positive spin on that. He just had to find a way to deal with it.
A knock at the door interrupted his pity party. He was tempted to tell his visitor to go to hell, but his parents didn’t deserve his anger. “Who is it?”
J.T. stuck his head in the door and grinned. “Hey, big shot, I heard you were home. So, tell me about the concerts.”
He didn’t want to deal with his brother’s warped sense of humor this morning. “They were good, great.” After pushing the coffee cup aside, he propped his elbows on the table. “Everything is just fucking great, kid.”
“Uh-oh.” J.T stepped inside, bending to pet the dog before he grabbed a kitchen chair and straddled it. “I know that look. What the hell happened?”
Ty dropped his head in his hands. “My life is a mess, J.T.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You’re on tour with one of the biggest names in country music. You’re finally getting everything you ever wanted.”
Ty shook his head. “Not everything.”
J.T. winced. “This is about Avery, isn’t it? Man, what is about that chick that turns you inside out. I mean, sure, she’s hotter than hell, I’ll give you that, but you have a song in the top ten, my friend. That means you could have your pick of hot women.”
Ty stared at his brother. If only it were as easy as J.T. seemed to think it was. Obviously, the kid had never been in love. “Yeah, well she’s the only one I want. Unfortunately, she doesn’t want me.”
“Why the hell not?”
It was difficult to talk about, even to his brother. “I’m not good enough for her, man. It’s as simple as that.”
J.T. leaned forward, fisting his hands on the table. “What, she actually told you that?”
“Yeah, she basically said I’d never fit into her world.”
J.T. scowled. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Ty smiled, appreciating his brother’s indignation on his behalf. J.T. had his faults, but when it mattered, he always had his back. “She’s country clubs and private schools. I’m pick-up trucks, and horse shit. The two really don’t go together, buddy.”
“That stuck-up little bitch,” J.T. muttered. “I can’t believe she thinks she’s too good for you. Who the hell does she think she is?”
“I went to see her parents while I was in California.” Ty whistled. “Man, you should’ve seen that place. They had groundskeepers, uniformed maids, the whole nine yards.”
“Is that what this is about?” J.T. asked, leaning back in his chair. “The parents don’t think you’re good enough for their little princess?”
He shook his head. “No, they were actually pretty decent people. They were interested in what I had to say. They listened to my story, and in the end, they seemed to think I’d be good for Avery.”
J.T. raised his hands, palms up. “I don’t get it. What’s the problem, then?”
“I don’t know, man.” Ty stood up, scraping his chair on the wood floor. “I guess she’s just not that into me.”
Avery didn’t know how she was going to get through the day without caffeine. Unfortunately, she had to find a way. She had meetings to attend to and clients demanding her attention. It was just another day in her life, yet nothing in her life made sense without Ty. It all seemed so damned pointless.
A knock on her door startled her. Her new assistant, Colleen, had stepped out on her lunch break, which left her alone in the office. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Could it be him?
After clearing her throat, she said, “Come in.”
The door swung open and an angry looking J.T. crossed the threshold.
“Damn,” she muttered. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”
“Suck it up, buttercup.” He leaned his fists on her desk, towering over her. “You wanna tell me why the hell you’re messing with my brother?”
She sighed, leaning back in her swivel chair to put some distance between them. “This is none of your business, unless of course your brother sent you here to fight his battles for him?”
“Ty doesn’t need anyone to take up for him, but I’m his brother and that’s what families do.”
A few days ago she would have scoffed at the notion of familial support, but in light of her mother’s sudden change of heart, she could understand J.T.’s need to protect his brother. “I’m not going to discuss this with you.”
“Too bad, ‘cause I’m not leaving until you do.” He claimed the chair across from her, propping a booted foot up on his knee. “I’ve got a hell of a lot of time on my hands now that my parents are selling the ranch. Hell, I could sit here all day.”
She sighed. “Why don’t you go and see if you can’t get yourself thrown off a bull? That is what you do for fun, isn’t it, cowboy?”
He tipped his black cowboy hat, sneering at her. “I just might do that, but not until you tell me why Ty isn’t good enough for you.”
She knew she wasn’t going to get rid of him unless she fed him the same line of crap she’d force-fed Ty last night. She pointed to the framed degrees hanging on the wall behind her credenza. “You see those. I went to the best schools in the country. Your brother and I are from two different worlds. Can’t you see that?”
When his sharp blue gaze fixed on a spot over her shoulder, she realized her mistake. Damn it, her prenatal vitamins were sitting on the credenza in plain view.
“What the hell are those?”
She knew the label gave it away, a pregnant woman smiling and holding her belly. The words “pre-natal vitamins” emblazoned in bright pink lettering. She grabbed the bottle and shoved it into her desk drawer, but she knew the damage had already been done.
“Shit, you’re pregnant,” he whispered. “He doesn’t know, does he?”
She could try and lie, tell him she wasn’t pregnant or the baby wasn’t his brother’s, but she knew he was too sharp to fall for her lies. He knew what was going on; she might as well come clean. “You have to promise me you won’t tell him.”
“Screw that, you can bet your sweet ass I’m gonna tell my brother that he’s gonna be a daddy, lady.” He glared at her. “This happened after that night at his place, didn’t it. You said you took the morning after pill, but you didn’t. You lied to him. Did you plan this? Were you trying to trap him with a baby?”
&nbs
p; The sadness hit her like an unexpected avalanche. It came out of nowhere as she sat there, sobbing into her hands. “I never meant for this to happen,” she whispered.
“Shit, don’t cry,” he muttered. He got out of his chair and grabbed a few tissues from a box on the table between the two guest chairs. Perching himself on the edge of the desk, he handed her the tissue. “Why don’t you take a deep breath and tell me what the hell is going on with you, Avery?”
She looked up at J.T. and saw a brief glimpse of the man she loved. They were both tall, dark, and sexy with piercing blue eyes that seemed to delve into her soul. But he wasn’t Ty. He wasn’t the father of her baby and he wasn’t in love with her. Maybe he could be a little more objective, shed some light on the situation with Abby.
She sighed, using the tissue to blot her cheeks. “Where do I begin?”
“Why don’t you start with the baby?”
She touched her still flat stomach and smiled. She couldn’t help it; she always smiled when she thought about her little peanut. “I’d intended to get the morning after pill. I could’ve gone to the drugstore to get it, but I didn’t. I went to see my doctor. Maybe I wanted him to try and talk me out of it or something. Tell me about some kind of potential side-effects or…”
“Did he convince you not to take the pill?”
She shook her head, remembering the conversation. “No, but we talked about my age and the fact that the risk associated with pregnancy increases slightly as a woman ages.” She crumpled the tissue, settling her hands in her lap. “I began to realize that I may never get another chance to be a mom, J.T.”
He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “And obviously, that was something you wanted enough to deceive my brother?”
“I know it seems that way, but I didn’t intentionally deceive him. I didn’t set out to get pregnant. We acted recklessly and it just happened. I didn’t even know I was pregnant until the day of that incident with your brother and my assistant.” She looked up at J.T. “I assume he told you about that?”
He nodded. “He mentioned it. He said nothing happened and I believe him.”
A tear slipped down her cheek and she brushed it away with the tissue. “So do I. At least, now I do.”
He shook his head as though he was trying to clear it. “Okay, I’m confused. You believe he was being honest with you, yet you still won’t give him a chance. The guy loves you, Avery. You’re carrying his baby. What the hell is wrong with you?” he shouted, coming up off the desk.
She looked up, trying to remain brave in the face of his outrage. “I wanted to tell him. I’d planned to. I swear I did.”
He took a deep breath and began pacing the room. “Okay, so why didn’t you? What happened to change your mind?”
“Abby,” she whispered.
He turned on his booted heel, his hands planted firmly on his lean hips. “What’s she got to do with this?”
“She came to see me last night.” Avery drew a shuddering breath, trying to regain her composure. “She made all kinds of threats and allegations. She knows about the baby. She threatened to go to the media.”
He threw his hands up in the air. “Why am I not surprised? That goddamn bitch…” He paused, his high cheekbones staining with color. “I’m sorry.”
She smiled, shaking her head. “That’s okay. My sentiments exactly.”
He grinned, falling into the chair in front of her desk. “Okay, tell me what else she said.”
“She knows that if this story breaks, it’ll end Ty’s career before it even starts. I can’t let that happen. He’s worked too hard for this.”
He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Okay, so that B.S. you fed my brother last night was because of Abby?”
She leaned forward, hoping he could read the sincerity in her eyes. “J.T., I love your brother. If anything, I think he’s too good for me.”
J.T. chuckled. “I don’t know if I’d go that far. Remember, I’ve known the guy his whole life.”
She smiled, feeling relieved that she had another ally in her fight against Abby. “So, what do you think I should do about her?”
J.T. set his cowboy hat on the chair beside him and drew his fingers through his longish black hair. “The only way to deal with her is take away something that matters to her.”
“Like what?”
He shrugged. “Money? It’s always been the most important thing in the world to her. Certainly more important than her own kid.”
“But why would her father cut her off now, if he hasn’t been willing to do that before?” She shook her head. “Besides, she’s sniffing around Ty again because she thinks she’s finally hit the motherload now that he has this big record deal.”
J.T. rolled his eyes. “Man, she’s a piece of work, ain’t she? I have no idea what my brother ever saw in her.” He grinned, flashing a mouthful of straight white teeth. “At least his taste in women is getting better.”
She smiled. “Thanks. So you’re not going to tell Ty about any of this, are you?”
He shook his head. “You’re puttin’ me in a hell of a spot here, Avery. How can I not tell my brother that he’s about to become a daddy? If he finds out that I knew about this and didn’t tell him, he’ll never forgive me.”
She knew it wasn’t fair to ask J.T. to jeopardize his relationship with his brother, but she didn’t see any other alternative. “I have a plan. My parents have hired private investigators to dig up dirt on Abby.”
J.T. scoffed. “Hell, that shouldn’t be too hard.”
“That’s what I’m counting on. If we find something, we may be able to use it as leverage to get her to back off and give Ty his divorce. Then she’d be out of his life forever.”
He braced his elbows on his knees, leaning forward as he looked her in the eyes. “You do realize it may be too late by then, don’t you?”
She swallowed, trying to pretend his words didn’t feed her fears. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know how my brother is gonna deal with this when he finds out you lied to him about the baby.”
She bit her bottom lip to prevent it from trembling. “You don’t think he’ll forgive me, do you?”
J.T. stood up and settled his cowboy hat on his head. “Darlin’, I don’t think I could if I were in his shoes.”
Avery considered J.T.’s words as she watched him walk out the door. He was right. Ty was never going to forgive her for this.
The phone rang, startling her. She glanced at the call display before picking it up. “Hi, Mom, what’s up?”
“Avery, I have some news. The investigator did a preliminary background check and…”
Avery waited for her mother to continue. When she said nothing, she sighed. “Mother, I have a very busy day. I really don’t have time for games. Did he find anything or not?”
“After a few hours of surveillance, he got what we were looking for,” she said quietly.
“That’s great. What did he find out?”
“Darling, that young lady has a very serious drug addiction.”
Avery’s heart sank. She may not like Abby, but she was someone’s daughter, someone’s mother. “What? How do you know that?”
“The detective followed her when she went to meet her dealer. After the exchange, our guy paid her dealer a lot of money to tell him about her buying habits. She’s spending thousands of dollars a month on cocaine.”
“Oh no.” Avery dropped her head into her hands.
“What are you going to do with this information?” Anna asked.
“What can I do? I have to tell her parents.”
Her mother paused. “You realize that if you do that, you won’t have the leverage you need to ensure she keeps her mouth shut.”
“Of course I realize that, but she’s slowly killing herself. I can’t just sit by and do nothing. There are people who love her. She has a little girl who needs a mother. Maybe she can get clean, be a real mama to that little girl.”
“Swee
theart, for the record, I think you’re doing the right thing. I’m proud of you.”
Avery smiled. She’d never heard her mother say those words, not even when she graduated at the top of her class. Maybe there was still hope for their relationship, after all. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll call you later to let you know how it went with Abby’s parents.”
“See that you do. Honey, you take care of my precious grandbaby, okay?”
“I will. In fact, my first ultrasound appointment is scheduled for tomorrow. I’ll try and email you the picture.” She laughed. “Although I’m not sure how clear it will be at this point.”
“Are you going to the appointment alone?”
Avery would give anything if she could have Ty by her side, holding her hand the first time they saw their baby, but she knew that was impossible, under the circumstances. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s just a routine doctor’s appointment.”
“I can tell you from experience, there is nothing routine about seeing your baby for the first time, honey. That’s a moment you’ll remember for the rest of your life. You’ll fall in love, really in love, for the first time in your life.”
Avery could only imagine what it would be like to love another person so completely. “Is that how you felt?”
“Absolutely. I was completely overwhelmed.” She laughed. “In fact, I cried my eyes out the first time I saw you on that screen. It finally became real to me that I was going to have a baby.”
It was hard for Avery to imagine her reserved mother showing emotion. “That’s sweet, Mom.”
“I love you, sweetheart. I know I don’t say that often enough, but I do. More than you’ll ever know.”
Avery felt the waterworks starting. Damn those pregnancy hormones. “I love you, too.”
“Can I ask a favor?”
“Sure.”
“Can I be there with you tomorrow, for your doctor’s appointment?”
Avery held the phone away from her ear, trying to decide how to respond to her mother’s request. She didn’t want to be alone, but they were just starting to forge a mother-daughter relationship. Things were still tenuous. “You can’t just pick up and fly here, Mom. You have patients who need you.”
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